Two Legs to Stand On

Read on to learn how to align your pillars of support.

Many young children make perfect role models of natural alignment because their bodies haven't yet taken on the poor postural habits of our modern culture. 

As a result, babies who develop throughout infancy with a minimum of interference with naturally unfolding neurodevelopmental movements figure out, on their own, how to inhabit their bodies according to Nature's rules.

No matter where in the world they're born, babies who develop a deep core of aligned strength become upright on two solid legs that serve as vertical pillars of support.

Life was a lot more formal in the 1950s, as seen in these typical class photos above. For one thing, girls only wore dresses and skirts to school. We can celebrate the relaxing of dress codes and certain other standards, but not the fact that most children today no longer stand on two legs. Back in the 50s, few children needed to be reminded to stand on two legs. 

A lot has changed since the 50s. The list is long enough to skip over, for now, to be taken up another time.

But fast-forward a generation or two, and it's become increasingly rare for children today to stand on two solidly vertical legs; those who do are hard to find.

This is not a universal situation. These girls carry heavy containers of water on their heads — and do it with ease — because the weight is distributed through an aligned spine that's supported by two aligned pillars called legs.

You might be wondering,
'so what?'
Why does this even matter? 
No one in our society ever needs to carry water on their head.

The reasons for learning how to get your legs to fully support you are far more significant than just carrying heavy loads on top of your head successfully. 

Your skeleton is the underlying framework that gives shape to your body, just as it does to the bodies pictured above.

The muscles attached to misaligned and distorted bones become conditioned to being constantly contracted and tight.

Over the years, unhelpful patterns have become so entrenched that they define how you sit and stand and inhabit your body in everything you do.  

As you may have learned in the previous post called "Meet Your Feet," the shape of the feet determines the alignment above them.

You can experience this yourself by

1. Slowly rotating the knee of one of your standing legs toward the center.
2. Notice what happens to the alignment of your ankle, your arch, and your toes.
3. Repeat this a few more times
4. Take in the sensations of your bones and muscles shifting within.

The foot on which Leg A stands, reveals a pronated ankle, dropped arch, and disengaged toes. Muscles in this leg are forced to overwork in ways they do not have to in Leg B, which has the benefit of standing atop a well-aligned foot.

The video walks you through a simple exercise for lining up your legs.

May you stand up solidly in your world with the support of two naturally aligned legs!

~ Kathleen